Whitman Pioneer Spring 2012 Issue 5 by Whitman College Wire

Sports

pg. 5

Opinion

pg. 7

After a breakthrough season ending with Criticism of individual food choices ignores the DI Ultimate Championships, Whitman’s systemic problems with our food system Sweets rise to new level of competition that leave many without healthy options

E WH TH

The

Pio blogger Sam Chapman offers a look into Whitman’s new bike share program at www.whitmanpioneer.com/opinion

EX AMICITIA VERITAS

ONEER PI

PIONEER

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This week on web

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ISSUE 5 | February 23, 2012 | Whitman news since 1896

PHOTO BY BERGMAN

by SHELLY LE News Editor

cholastic pressure at Whitman can be tremendous, especially as midterms approach and the end of the semester looms ahead. Some students turn to using Adderall without a prescription to help them manage their heavy workload. “I didn’t feel compelled to take it, but I did have an all-nighter in front of me, and other people who I was in a study room with were already planning to take it so it was a ‘sure why not’ sort of thing where it was available to me and I was interested in whatever would help me get through the huge chunk of work that you get during finals week,”

said sophomore Owen Maynard.* Adderall is a brand name amphetamine-based medication prescribed for patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy. The drug works to increase dopamine flow in an individual’s frontal cortex, countering the effects of ADHD. According to an article published by NPR in 2009, as many as 25 percent of students on some college campuses have used a form of Adderall or Ritalin to complete essays and study for exams. “Adderall is actually very popular at Whitman,” said senior Jake Gale*, who has sold the drug to students in the past. In a Pioneer survey of 252 students, 22 percent of respondents had used prescription drugs

without a prescription before. Of those, 63 percent had used Adderall. The majority of the respondents who admitted to using prescription drugs without a prescription used them for recreational and study enhancement reasons. “It’s a fairly common pattern among Whitman students to take more on your plate than you can actually deal with,” Maynard said. “Generally when finals week comes around, I don’t have enough time to properly lay out a plan of action for all my different assignments and pursue them in a reasonable manner.” Amphetamine-based drugs are addictive by nature, and can pose dangers for prescribed and non-prescribed users if used on a regular basis. Side effects

of the drug include increased heart rate, insomnia, seizures, mood swings and severe paranoia. If mixed with other prescription drugs, such as Oxycodone or large amounts of alcohol, Adderall can prove fatal. Adderall creates a hyper-focused state that motivates the user to focus on one task without feeling the need to submit to distractions such as socializing with friends or feeling the need to sleep. Gale said that Adderall is usually looked for around midterms and finals at Whitman. “Adderall makes you very good at whatever it is that you choose to do, but you still have to choose to do sort of what it is that you need to get done,” Maynard said, observing that Ad-

derall can sometimes make users who have not built up a tolerance for the drug become so hyper-focused that they can get stuck in a one-track mindset. “I was being pulled along by the drug in such a way that my productivity or the pace of work that I had artificially boosted myself to had outpaced my capacity for careful, reasonable thought necessary when you’re writing. So in a sense, it was a conflict of interest, but I wanted to work faster than I could effectively work, so it was a weird situation,” he said. Sophomore Alice Sampson* said she took Adderall once for study-enhancement purposes when she had to write a six-page essay in one night last semester.

see ADDERALL, page 3

Student helps discover ‘supergiant’ amphipod by EMILY LIN-JONES Staff Reporter

Mackenzie Gerringer ‘12 was a part of a team that discovered an amphipod off of the coast of New Zealand. She was sent by Professor of Biology and Carl E. Peterson Endowed Chair of Scineces Paul Yancey to collect data for research. Photo contributed by Gerringer

Vagina Monologues aim for empowerment, discourse by MALLORY MARTIN Staff Reporter

tarting this Friday, Feb. 24, Feminists Advocating Change and Empowerment and the Voices of Planned Parenthood will bring V-Day, an event of global activism, to campus. V-Day is a campaign and organization that fights for an end to violence against women and girls that was started in 1988 by Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues.” Every year from February through April, Ensler offers groups from around the world the opportunity to produce her play. All proceeds from these events go to local shelters and rape crisis centers. According to the organization’s official website, V-Day has raised over $85 million since its start, with over 5,800 benefits performed last year. For students unfamiliar with “The Vagina Monologues,” the play is a collection of individual and group dialogues based off interviews Ensler took with women around the globe. It discusses topics of rape, abuse, sex-

uality, body confidence and birth. Whitman has been participating in the movement for several years. Each monologue in the production is individually directed and performed by students from the college. Ten percent of all earnings go to the V-Day campaign to support their international efforts; the rest of the profits will be donated to Walla Walla Planned Parenthood, the Walla Walla YWCA and the STEP Women’s shelter. FACE President and this year’s V-Day Director senior Ellie Newell expressed her conviction that the performance is something very relevant and personal to all students. “Most of us have come into contact some way or another with domestic violence and sexual assault. As a rape survivor myself, the show has particular importance for me,” said Newell. “The show also has a heavy ‘love your vagina’ empowerment message, which is really important because I think female sexuality is a very touchy and taboo subject, even in 2012.” see MONOLOGUES, page 4

hen researchers on the Karahoa fished up a previously undiscovered “supergiant” amphipod off the coast of New Zealand last fall, senior Mackenzie Gerringer was on board to witness the momentous occasion. The trip was a part of a research project being undertaken by an international group of scientists that includes Whitman’s own Professor of Biology and Carl E. Peterson Endowed Chair of Sciences Paul Yancey. Yancey sent Gerringer, who is working on her biology thesis in his lab, to collect data in his stead. “Professor Yancey was originally supposed to go collect the samples,” she said. “He was unable to make the trip, so I got a really amazing opportunity,” she said. The expedition, which took place in late November and early December of last year, focused on gathering specimens from the Kermadec Trench in the waters north of New Zealand. At over 30,000 feet in depth, the trench is one of the deepest spots

on Earth. Yancey and his colleagues are aiming to understand more about how life is able to survive in these extreme conditions. “The deep sea is kind of an enigma,” said Yancey. “We don’t know much about what happens to everything down there. In my lab we’re trying to analyze the tissues to see what [the animals are] made out of, we’re trying to see how they survive pressure. The other people I’m working with are studying ecology and how animals interact with each other and what they’re eating. It’s a big project.” At 11 inches long, the newly discovered amphipod completely dwarfs typical one-inch specimens of its kind. According to Yancey, the amphipod illustrates an unexplained phenomenon called deep-sea gigantism, which is common in deep-sea creatures. “There’s this phenomenon where things in the deep sea often get huge, like the giant squid. We didn’t know that [the amphipod] lived down there, but that’s the biggest of that kind of animal ever found. And we don’t know why that is,” he said. see AMPHIPOD, page 2

High graduation rates win Wa-Hi statewide recognition by RACHEL ALEXANDER Senior Reporter

alla Walla High School was one of 48 schools in the state to receive a 2011 Achievement Award for having a high extended graduation rate. Achievement Awards are given by the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and they honor schools which perform well in each category of the state’s High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE), as well as those with accomplishments in other areas. This is the second year that Wa-Hi has been honored; last year, they were recognized for closing the achievement gap. “I was very excited for our staff and students to be honored with this award,” said Wa-Hi Principal Pete Peterson in an email. Wa-Hi’s extended graduation rate is 97 percent, which is significantly higher than the state average of 82.7 percent. It is also higher than neighboring 4A

schools such as Richland, Pasco and Yakima High Schools, which have extended graduation rates of 88 percent, 79 percent and 89 percent, respectively. These numbers are no accident. They represent a districtwide effort to provide academic support and career and college guidance for students. Rather than simply making sure that students finish high school, WaHi works to ensure that students have post-graduation plans. “Across our system, staff are delivering the message that when you get through high school, you will leave career or college ready,” said Peterson. As part of this, seniors are required to give a senior presentation highlighting their post-high school goals and the steps they’ve taken towards realizing them. Wa-Hi also allows student to take classes in a variety of technical fields, such as veterinary medicine, computer-aided drafting and business law. Claircy Boggess, the

career information specialist at WaHi, said that the variety of practical courses offered by the school help expose students to possible careers. “There’s a wealth of skill exploration they can do,” she said. Complementing the job skills offered in class, are a number of educational programs which help keep students on track academically and prepare them to attend college. Among these is Response to Intervention (RTI), a program targeting students who are performing below grade level in core skills, such as reading. RTI students don’t meet the criteria for special education, but also need more help than regular classes can provide. “[RTI] becomes a more targeted type of instruction that helps that in-between student,” said Superintendent Mick Miller. By allowing students to receive more individualized attention with specially trained staff, RTI helps keep students on track who might otherwise slip through the cracks. see WA-HI, page 2

NEWS

Feb

23 2012

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WFR class teaches practical, marketable skills to students by DYLAN TULL Staff Reporter

Ben Hayes ‘11 and seniors Jackson Bellaimey and Kira Peterson look on as a WFR scenario is enacted on the Reid Side Lawn over Presidents’ Day Weekend. Photo by Farrell

he Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training attracts a large number of Whitman students every year. The 80-hour course, offered by Whitman Medicine Institute of NOLS every January and March, takes students through class and hands-on learning in order to educate them about medical practice in the outdoor environment. This weekend, just under 30 students met at Reid for a three day WFR re-certification course. Despite the $600 fee to attend the course, the WFR program is popular among Whitman students because it is becoming a common requirement for outdoor jobs and programs, including Whitman’s own Outdoor Program. Through WFR, students gain the skills one is expected to have to lead OP Trips and find outdoor-focused jobs such as summer camp leadership. Sophomore Sam Kirsch spoke about the options that WFR opens up in terms of future wilderness job opportunities. “It looks great on a resumé. It’s good for outdoor jobs. I’m excellently qualified for anything I want to do with leading trips of high school kids and going camping or anything like that. That’s what I hope to do this summer,” he said.

Emphasis on career, college preparation yields success from WA-HI, page 1

“That’s really helped kids become more successful,” said Miller. College preparatory programs have also played a role in Wa-Hi’s academic success. The school currently receives three grants for GEAR-UP, a U.S. Department of Education program which supports low-income students who want to attend college. GEAR-UP begins in seventh grade and supports a cohort to students through

graduation, allowing the program to focus on early interventions for students who may have difficulties attending college. Wa-Hi also has an Achievement via Individual Determination (AVID) program in place, targeting first-generation college students. Similar to GEAR-UP, AVID tracks a cohort of students from middle school through high school graduation. Peterson said that the school employs two In-

tervention Specialists, who help to identify at-risk students who might benefit from the program. Whitman first-year José Beleche participated in AVID at WaHi, and said that the program was critical to his success in school. “Without AVID, it would be really hard for me to be here at Whitman,” he said. Beleche was part of the first cohort of AVID students at WaHi. The program began his sophomore year, focusing on life skills such as studying well and organizing time. Beyond instruction, Beleche benefited from the environment created by the program. “Within the first month, we became really close to the people that were in the class,” he said. Beleche emphasized the role that Wa-Hi staff play in student success, saying that he could always count on his teachers for help. “The staff’s really great. They really know how to sit down and talk to you,” he said. “Any problems you had, you could go to them.” Miller also believed that staff play a critical role in helping Wa-Hi maintain its high graduation rates. He mentioned that some teachers are willing to teach high-level AP courses back to back with RTI. For him, this is a sign of their dedication. “We have some pretty cool teachers,” he said.

Sophomore Will Seymour signed up for WFR because he was titillated by the possibilities of jobs that would become available to him after the training. “I’m interested in becoming a Registered Nurse, and possibly Search and Rescue, so it was a great way to get an idea of what wilderness medicine is like,” he said. According to sophomore Kemper Brightman, the Whitman Outdoor Program also values the WFR program highly. “All the scramble leaders hired this year have WFR. It’s sort of becoming increasingly necessary to be a scramble leader and lead outdoor trips,” he said. First-year Chelan Pauly’s reasoning for taking WFR was also tied heavily to leading a scramble. “I wanted to do WFR so that I could be a lot more involved in the OP and have the opportunity to help lead OP trips and do scrambles. And also to get involved in the outdoor program, the outdoor community of people and meet people that do outdoor stuff at Whitman,” she said. Another benefit that Whitman students take from WFR, are the skills themselves. Kirsch talked about the importance of knowing medical practices for the outdoors. “I took WFR because specialized medical knowledge is pretty hard to come by, but if you have

Whitman senior gets taste of career in marine biology, fufills childhood dream from AMPHIPOD, page 1

Yancey is preparing to undertake his own trip to Kermadec and other key locations sometime in the next year, which will employ a robotic submarine to explore and collect samples from the depths. Yancey says he plans to bring a student on this trip as well. According to Gerringer, daily life aboard the research vessel was both a challenge and a thrill. “We were on the water for 12 days. For most of the voyage, we were completely out of sight of land,” she said. “Everything you do on the ship is made slightly more complicated because it rolls and pitches so much. Things like dissecting, writing, eating, climbing out of your bunk, even walking, become a challenge.” Still, she said the experience was well worth it. “This is the type of thing I’ve been dreaming about since I was a kid. I’m really passionate about the research, and this trip reaffirmed my desires for a career in marine biology. Just about every time scientists look in the deep sea, they find something new. There’s just so much out there that we haven’t seen yet. The amphipod is another example of the strange and wonderful things waiting to be discovered in the deep places of the earth.”

When and where exactly is that

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PRODUCTION

WRITING

BUSINESS

Editor-in-Chief Patricia Vanderbilt

Production Manager Ted Hendershot

NEWS

Business Manager Hailun Zhou

Managing Editor Cara Lowry

Production Associates Katie Berfield, Sean McNulty Madison Munn, Molly Olmsted, Cara Patten, Allison Work

PIONEER

EDITORIAL

News Editors Karah Kemmerly Shelly Le A&E Editor Caitlin Hardee Sports Editor Libby Arnosti Feature Editors Alyssa Fairbanks Kelsey Kennedy

WEB TEAM

Copy Editors Aleida Fernandez Marisa Ikert

FEATURE

Web Editor Sara Rasmussen

ILLUSTRATION

SPORTS

Opinion Editor Alex Brott Humor Editor Cari Cortez

PHOTOGRAPHY

Illustration Editor Binta Loos-Diallo

A&E

Circulation Associate Emily Coba

Clara Bartlett, Nathan Fisher, Alex Hagen, Mallory Martin, Ellie Newell

Chief Copy Editor Jean Marie Dreyer

Alex Bailey, Ariel Carter-Rodriguez, Kelly Douglas, Ruth Hwang Emily Johnson, Julie Peterson, Erika Zinser

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Rachel Alexander, Molly Johanson, Emily Lin-Jones, Julia Stone, Dylan Tull

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Webmaster Kirk Crosland

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Advertising Associate Will Martin, Woodrow Jacobson

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Elena Aragon, Tabor Martinsen, Theo Pratt, Dana Thompson

NUMBERS

IN THE NEWS by SHELLY LE News Editor

16 million

Number of Americans age 12 and older who had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once in 2009.

400

Percent increase in substance abuse treatment admissions for prescription pain relievers between 1998 and 2008.

Percentage of high school students who reported nonmedical use of Vicodin in a 2010 survey.

Percentage of 252 Whitman students surveyed who have taken prescription drugs without a prescription.

Percentage of those Whitman students surveyed who took prescription drugs without a prescription, that took them for study-enhancement purposes.

The number of states with operational prescription drug monitoring programs in May 2011.

120,000

DEAR SUBWAY,

Aided by programs like GEAR-UP, Walla Walla High School boasts a graduation rate of 97 percent, significantly higher than the state rate of 82.7 percent. Photo by beck

it and you ever need to use it, you’re going to want to have it. You’re going to want to know what you do for someone with a punctured lung, what you do for someone who is bleeding out, how do you make a sling, a cast,” he said. “This is just all stuff that it’s responsible to know as a person who wants to [help] other people if they’re ever hurt.” While there are job opportunities and skill sets gained from being WFR certified, there was some disagreement among participants on whether the cost of the class is justified. “I guess it’s fairly exclusive, I think based on its cost. Which is unfortunate, because they are skills that I feel like everyone should have if they are interested in going outside. I guess it was also interesting with the OP, the fact that everyone has WFR. It just sort of says something about they have really high standards, because it’s essentially required,” Brightman said. While Pauly agreed that the cost was a slight downside, she emphasized that WFR training is worth it. “I think it’s really important that people take WFR, before they go out and lead a bunch of trips because it teaches you a lot. And I think it’s a really valuable class, so it’s probably worth the cost, but it’s definitely a downside that you have to pay [$600].”

Advertising Manager Hannah Bauer

For information about advertising in The Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact business@ whitmanpioneer.com.

Average number of Americans that go to the emergency room every year after overdosing on opioid painkillers.

1800

Number of pharmacies robbed nationally between 2008 and 2011. SOURCES: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, PIONEER SURVEY OF 252 STUDENTS, USA TODAY, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR.

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Whitman College Pioneer is a weekly student-run newspaper published under the auspices of the Associated Students of Whitman College. The purpose of The Pioneer is to provide pertinent, timely news and commentary for Whitman students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents, as well as the Walla Walla community. The Pioneer is dedicated to expanding open discussion on campus about the issues with which students are most concerned. We provide coverage of Whitman-related news as well as featured local and regional events, and strive to maintain a standard of utmost fairness, quality, and journalistic integrity while promoting freedom of the press. In addition, The Pioneer strives to be a learning tool for students who are interested in journalism. The Pioneer welcomes all feedback and publishes weekly Letters to the Editor in print and online.

SUBMISSION POLICY

Letters to Editor may be submitted to The Pioneer via email at editors@ whtimanpioneer.com or sent to The Pioneer, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA, 99362. All submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Saturday prior to the week that they are intended to appear. All submissions must be attributed and may be edited for concision and fluency.

CODE OF ETHICS

The code of ethics serves as The Pioneer’s established guidelines for the practice of responsible journalism on campus, within reasonable interpretation of the editorial board. These guidelines are subject to constant review and amendment; responsibility for amending the code of ethics is assigned to the Editor-in-Chief in conjunction with the editorial board. The code of ethics is reviewed at least once per semester. To access the complete code of ethics for The Pioneer, visit whitmanpioneer.com/about.

The

NEWS Productivity comes with risk of addiction Feb

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23 2012

from ADDERALL, page 1

However, she noted she doesn’t plan to take it again because she didn’t feel as though the drug made much of a difference in helping her complete her essay beyond keeping her awake all night. “It wasn’t very sustainable,” she said. Sophomore Parker Spehar* began using Adderall for recreational purposes his freshman year, and transitioned to using it to enhance his studies. Spehar obtained Adderall from friends who had prescriptions and offered it to him for $3 to $5 per pill. “I used it when I felt that I couldn’t stay up on my own, and since I don’t really like caffeine that much, I figured it would be an alternative to drinking coffee,” he said. Spehar said he took Adderall to catch up on work that he had to finish in a small time frame, rather than because he wanted to be an over-achiever. “The reason why I took it wasn’t because I felt pressure to do well or achieve a certain level of quality of papers or studying for my tests. It was mainly because I just procrastinated, and it ended up I had a lot of work to do and Adderall would keep me up,” he said. Additionally, Spehar felt that he wasn’t able to manage his time well as a first-year student. “I was just caught up in being a freshman. It’s a new place; there’s so many things to do, so many people to meet,” Spehar said. “I would end up going out on the weekdays and boom it’s Sunday night, and I have a paper due, and I had spent the whole week hanging out.” Director of Academic Resources Juli Dunn discussed the difficulties of balancing social lives with academics for first-year students. “The reality for many Whitman students was that

high school wasn’t hard. You’re naturally talented academicians. So to now be at a place where you have to plan your studying, students are overwhelmed,” she said. “I would say the ARC is underutilized for using planners that can help them prepare for finals week. Students have the best intentions, but at a some point they may fall off the planning wagon.” Maynard and Spehar both felt that the pressure to complete assignments in a short time frame creates a desire for Adderall amongst college students. “It’s always like something is due way too soon, and I have to work really hard to finish it off in time to tackle the next thing that’s due way too soon. There’s too much to be done and too little time to do it,” Maynard said. “Which isn’t to say that it couldn’t be done without Adderall, because people certainly do.” Junior Grace Cowden* has a prescription for Adderall. On a number of occasions, she has been approached by friends asking her to share a couple of pills. “It’s always finals week because they have to do an allnighter for a paper or they have a test the next day,” Cowden said. “Sometimes I’ve said [to friends asking for Adderall], ‘No, I don’t really feel comfortable,’ but other times I’ve given in because they’re close friends of mine.” Cowden feels that Adderall should only be used by those with prescriptions. “This is a drug meant for people with attention disorders and people without these disorders shouldn’t be taking it,” she said. Though Cowden said that she always asks her friends if they are taking any other medications or substances that may have negative side effects when combined with Adderall, safety concerns aren’t typically discussed when Adderall is bought and sold. “I don’t usually talk side effects because they know what

they are doing because it’s repeat customers. I’ve never had someone come up and be like, ‘Wow, I should try Adderall,’” Gale said. “I think it’s a selfresponsibility type of thing where if you’re in a position where you’re taking Adderall, the responsibility is on you to do so in a so-called safe manner,” Maynard said. After taking Adderall approximately 25 to 35 times his freshman year, Spehar no longer takes it for fear of developing a regular habit. “I saw a lot of people taking it all the time no matter what the circumstance was. Mainly for school, but it kind of turned into taking it to just take it,” he said. Maynard, who has only taken Adderall during finals week, felt similarly. “I’m wary of dependence and getting myself into a mindset where I feel I need to take neuro-stimulants to make it through a large block of work because, I mean, the work isn’t going away,” he said. Still, as midterm season approaches, a number of Whitman students will choose to ignore the potential hazards of using Adderall, and rely on the drug to get them through their all-nighters. “We are talking about people who are still in their late teens or have only recently not become teenagers and so they’re expected to act like adults and have adult workloads and we still have adolescent mindsets in multiple respects,” Maynard said. “To sort of grapple with that transition we lean on a number of crutches, Adderall being one of them.” *Name has been changed to protect anonymity. All students interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about legal repercussions for being publicly identified.

GRAPHIC BY BERFIELD

2007

Number of Female Applicants

2008 1,858 1,238

2009 1,989 1,301

2010 1,923 1,241

2011 1,862 1,217

2012 1,770 1,392 Number of Male Applicants

GENDER MAKEUP OF ADMITTED STUDENTS

1,164

INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS. Regular decision applications were due Jan. 15. A total of 3,162 students applied for spots in the class of 2016. Total applications from 2011 increased by 2.7 percent.

1,728

ILLUSTRATION BY CARTER-RODRIGUEZ

“Social media and social networking have really opened up conversation in a broader way . . . you can have a presence thousands of miles away from where you are. That also makes it dangerous, because you can make a statement in Walla Walla that’s heard everywhere.” Mary Deming-Barber ’78

SEC FOSTERS STUDENTALUMNI TIES by EMILY LIN-JONES Staff Reporter

oday’s increasingly competitive job market can present a pretty intimidating challenge to the newly graduated or soon-to-graduate Whitman student, and many soon discover that networking is vital. That’s why the Student Engagement Center (SEC) is currently looking for ways to connect more students to alumni through social media. “One of the ideas that we are going to spend some attention on this year is trying to have more and easier ways for current students to be in touch with alumni who want to be supportive of students going out and trying to find opportunities,” said Assistant Dean for Student Engagement Noah Leavitt. Currently students can tap into a network of alumni contacts by visiting the Student Engagement Center to access the Career Consulting Network, a database of around 1,500 alumni. SEC wants to increase both the ease of contact for students, and the pool of alumni that can be contacted. “The problem with [the Career Consulting Network] is that we have some wonderful people who have volunteered, but they aren’t always accessed,” said Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations Polly Schmitz. With the help of ASWC and the Alumni Board, the SEC is looking to make student-alumni communication more direct by creating a group on LinkedIn, a website designed specifically for professional networking. Leavitt said that the college hopes to implement a model similar to that of Wake Forest University, where representatives from Whitman visited last fall. Although two alumni-created LinkedIn groups already exist, SEC is still in the process of creating a common online space for both current students and alumni to converse in. Leavitt noted that he hopes to eventually have all first year students set up LinkedIn accounts as part of opening week. “The point is to make communication easier,” said Leavitt. Another major goal of SEC’s initiative is to make students more aware of the potential of popular social sites like Facebook and Twitter to be used as professional networking tools, and not just for informal communication. A presentation in Reid G02 on Feb. 24 called “Real Deal” will attempt to address this issue and help students make their social media pages more appealing to employers. The talk will cover a variety of topics relating to social media and networking, from managing privacy settings on Facebook to researching companies online for interviews to utilizing the Whitman alumni network to find job openings. “The Whitman alumni network has always been really tight, so having social media techniques

that we can use to tie alumni together is only going to make that connection even tighter than it has been in the past,” said Alumna Mary-Deming Barber ’78, a member of the Alumni Board and one of the presenters for “Real Deal.” Barber noted that social media is both a powerful and risky tool for networkers. “Social media and social networking have really opened up conversation in a broader way. It makes where someone is geographically less important than it used to be. You can have a presence thousands of miles away from where you are. That also makes it dangerous, because you can make a statement in Walla Walla that’s heard everywhere.” Barber said that the Alumni Board hopes to put on more events for graduating students in the future, focusing on both online and face-toface interaction with alumni. “I think that the Whitman alumni that are still active in the school are more than happy to share and discuss things with students whenever we have the opportunity to do it, and this is a pretty good example of that happening. Everyone on the board is hoping that this is the first of many opportunities we have to work with students,” she said. In addition to the Alumni Board, SEC has also approached Whitman Technology Services (WCTS) with regard to holding social media-related training sessions in the near future. “WCTS is happy to offer workshops to students on social media and other topics as we have done in the past. I am certain other sessions will be offered in collaboration with Noah and the Student Engagement Center in the future,” said Rich Hinz, developer of application support in WCTS. Some Whitman students have already taken the initiative in social media networking, forming an unofficial Whitman pilot group on LinkedIn to connect with professors and alumni. “If you start doing it early, I think that’s very important,” said sophomore Signe Burke, who has been using LinkedIn since last year to locate summer internship opportunities. ASWC president Matt Dittrich also spoke positively of the site’s utility. “It begs students to really put some time and effort into constructing their résumé, and allows them to get some pretty great feedback on their résumé because they’re posting the whole thing online, essentially,” he said. Dittrich said that he hopes Whitman will get more of the student body onto the site in the near future. “We need to take care of our students, and we need to take this idea of community seriously. We’re sort of one family, and a family takes care of itself,” he said.

ASWC FINANCE MINUTES 2/17 REQUEST OF $2690-$3500 (MAX) FROM TRAVEL & STUDENT DEVELOPMENT FUND BY ADAM DELGADO OF CLUB LATINO FOR STUDENTS TO ATTEND HARVARD UNIVERSITY LATINO LAW, POLICY, AND BUSINESS CONFERENCE. VOTE PASSED 5Y 0N 1A. REQUEST PASSED ON TO 2/26 SENATE MEETING. REQUEST OF $500 FROM SERVICE LEARNING ORGANIZATION FUND BY ALICIA KERLEE OF NAMASTÉ CLUB FOR STUDENTS TO ATTEND ZEN MEDITATION RETREAT IN TACOMA, WASH. REQUEST PASSED 4Y 1N 1A. REQUEST OF $3,414 FROM TRAVEL & STUDENT DEVELOPMENT FUND BY KEILER BEERS FOR STUDENTS TO GO ON NO MORE DEATHS SERVICE TRIP IN TUCSON, ARIZ. VOTE PASSED 5Y 0N 1A. REQUEST PASSED ON TO 2/26 SENATE MEETING.

A&E 4 Sam Alden takes comic art to next level Feb

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23 2012

by CLARA BARTLETT Staff Reporter

graphic designer and comic illustrator with many diverse projects under his belt, Whitman senior and KWCW Art Director Sam Alden took a moment to chat with The Pioneer about his recent endeavors, artistic process and future plans. What subjects are the most fun for you to draw? Do you hate drawing anything? If left to my own devices, I’ll always draw big textured forests and oceans—I really have to force myself to draw other things. I hate drawing the insides of cars and the interiors of very clean houses. Messy houses are fun because you get to invent all this clutter, but without that, it’s the worst. I’ve literally rewritten important scenes in my comic to avoid drawing the interiors of cars and clean houses. Also I have never, ever been able to draw a horse that didn’t look like a giant dog with weird legs. Do you think all good art has a good idea behind it? I guess it’s more like all good art

has a good idea in it. Saying that there’s a good idea behind it kind of implies that before drawing you have to sit down and think, ‘I’m going to pack these 14 symbols into this illustration and I shall execute it thus.’ Maybe some people work that way, but it’s much easier for me to start drawing and see what kinds of shapes and situations I find myself drawing, and then work out what it means as I go along.

What projects are you currently involved with? Right now I have a giant graphic novel that I’ve been working on all through college called “Eighth Grade.” It’s basically a big soap opera about these three middle-schoolers and their families, and, on a more pretentious level, it’s about how children perceive adults and vice versa. I really want to publish that soon after I graduate. I’m also doing other random illustration jobs; I’m drawing the opening credits for some movie being made in Chicago right now, and some promotional drawings for this international men’s fashion show. I have no idea how I’ve lucked into this semi-professional ca-

Sam Alden ‘12 (above) takes a moment to reflect on his artistic journey. Alden’s love for illustrating comics and graphic novels has landed him creative jobs in the film and fashion industries, as well as work designing for local businesses. Photo by Felt

reer while I’m still in college, but I am very appreciative of everyone who has ever given me money in exchange for drawing.

Alden’s prints were recently exhibited in the Stevens Gallery in Reid Campus Center. To see some of his work, go to gingerlandcomics.

‘The Grey’ sacrifices wolves on altar of profit by CAITLIN HARDEE A&E Editor

t’s a scenario right out of one of the worst nightmares of humanity. Recent blockbuster “The Grey” depicts an oil drilling team and a depressive wolf hunter (Liam Neeson), stranded in Alaska after a plane crash, who are stalked by a malicious pack of wolves. The pack intends to kill and eat every last member of the group. Only, there’s one problem with this thrilling scenario—it’s utterly absurd. “The notion of a pack of wolves having evil intent—wanting to kill a pack of humans— is preposterous. It’s simply not credible,” said Associate Professor of Biology and department chair Delbert Hutchison. Documented cases of humans killed by wolves in North America are very rare—until 10 years ago, there were no documented cases whatsoever. Despite the true numbers, wolves remain a terrifying, man-eating monster in the minds of many—an image that “The Grey” hardly helps. “What’s problematic about this, from a philosophical stand-

point, is here we have wolves in North America trying to make a comeback,” said Hutchison. “It’s already controversial and now this is just . . . the producers or screenwriters, I don’t think they have any political agenda, I’d be surprised if they even care that much. It packs theaters. But it has the negative side effect of giving people a false idea of what wolves are. The public is already vastly ignorant of the natural world.” Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies Patrick Belanger, who recently discussed the film in his Environmental Communication course, offered similar sentiments regarding the likelihood of the scenario. “If you happened to crash in northern British Columbia in the winter, you’re more likely to die from, first of all, the plane crash, second of all, from sheer cold and exposure and hunger,” said Belanger. “It is exceedingly unlikely that a wolf will eat you. We were also discussing the fact that the director of this movie is Ridley Scott. Do you know Ridley Scott? He did ‘Aliens.’ In ‘The Grey,’ aliens and wolves serve the exact same purpose—they’re a stand-

in for a primeval fear of predators and monsters, so you could as easily have aliens instead of wolves in this depiction. The key motivating factor is that wolves are somehow sexy, if you had hippopotamuses chasing someone in the Sahara Desert, it wouldn’t be as exciting, but you’re more likely to be killed by a hippopotamus than a wolf.” Sophomore Ann Chen, founder of Whitman’s Film Production Club, addressed the complex relationships between filmmakers’ artistic license, versus political responsibility and the audience’s perception of reality. “I do not think a filmmaker has an obligation to present issues of current political sensitivity with accuracy,” wrote Chen in an email. “If filmmakers are confined to produce ‘accurate’ films, then we may all be watching documentary films rather than having the options of seeing creative, imaginative movies. Moreover, even documentary films are not completely ‘accurate’ because every shot is consciously chosen by the director, with a clear subjective message from start to finish. Also, I don’t think ‘The Grey’ is meant to be a prop-

aganda film that aims toward making people think a certain way. [The] audience has to think for themselves, and it is their responsibility to distinguish fiction from nonfiction, facts from opinions and story from reality.” However, when audiences fail to remain critical, Hollywood demonizations of predator species can lead to unfortunate side effects for conservation efforts. Belanger discussed the potential implications of negative misconceptions regarding gray wolves for the species’ tenuous recovery. “This week, the Oregon House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Committee passed a bill that would allow the killing of wolves in response to the repeated killing of livestock. One need only look to the example of ‘Jaws’ and its correlation with the mass slaughter of global shark populations to appreciate the possible implications of an inaccurate, yet popularized representation of a species,” said Belanger. Hutchison remained unmoved by the film’s sensationalizing and star power. “It’s a stupid, stupid movie and I refuse to go see it,” he said.

tumblr.com, check out his shirts for the Colville Street Patisserie and KWCW, or pick up a copy of KWCW’s magazine “Hey, Man.”

PIO PICKS Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights several upcoming events. Film Screening: Precious The Intercultural Center and BSU present a screening of Lee Daniels’ 2009 film “Precious,” which explores themes of domestic and sexual abuse, poverty, disease and the indomitable human spirit. Q&A session to follow the film. Thursday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m. Olin 130.

Mardi Gras La Maison presents a wild night of Mardi Gras fun! Come paint a mask from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. and then stay for a night of dancing.

Friday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m. - 12 a.m. La Maison.

IHC Open Houses The Interest House Community presents an afternoon of diverse cultures and delicious food! Sample gyoza at Tekisuijuku, roasted kale at the Outhouse, bread and cheese at La Maison, guacamole, chips and dancing at Casa Hispana, cookies at the FAH, games at Das Deutsche Haus, tea at the Asian Studies House and MECCA, and many more fun activities!

Sunday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. IHC.

2012 Oscars: Predictions & Picks by NATHAN FISHER Staff Reporter

ebruary is my favorite month because my birthday is the 26th, and this year I get one of the best presents ever—the Oscars! I have seen every movie nominated for best picture this year, but because I had to study a bit, I was unable to view enough movies in some categories to make a prediction. So, drum roll please—Nathan’s Partial Oscar Picks for the year are: Best Actor: Very tough choice between George Clooney in “The Descendants” and Jean Dujardin in “The Artist.” Although Clooney’s performance was outstanding, the voiceless Dujardin blew me away and gets my vote. Acting within the confines of a black and white silent movie, Dujardin effortlessly filled his character with emotion and passion. Best Supporting Actress: Tough choice here because this category had the most talented actors. Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain from “The Help” were superb, but Spencer will probably sweep this award. Bérénice Bejo also deserves to be mentioned for her peppy performance in “The Artist.” My vote goes to Chastain.

Best Supporting Actor: I NEVER imagined that Jonah Hill would even be nominated for any Oscar, but he gets my vote for his comedic, number cruncher performance in “Moneyball.” Hill, slimmed down, cleaned up and wearing collared shirts and ties, gave a great understated performance and truly supported the big guy, Brad Pitt. Max von Sydow, the mute with “Yes” and “No” written on his hand in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” was a very close second. Best Original Song: Hands down, “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets.” I cannot be objective in this category because I am a sucker for The Muppets, and have listened to this song hundreds of times since I got the soundtrack for Christmas. Best Picture: This category is the hardest decision because I loved all nine movies. After hours of going back and forth, watching and then re-watching, “The Artist” gets my vote because of how it shocked my senses. I have never walked out of a theater in such awe. A black and white silent movie probably won’t win the real award, but it gets my vote. Now, go out and watch all these great movies, and you be the judge. Don’t forget to watch The Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26!

The Vagina Monologues’ cast (above) mirrors the plays’ feminist themes with a spectrum of red-toned costumes. Photo by beck

STYLE SPOTLIGHT Every week, The Pioneer searches out Whitties who bring an extra splash of fashion consciousness and sartorial daring to campus. This week’s Style Spotlight: the cast of The Vagina Monologues.

Style Soundbites “This costume was chosen for me by my director, [senior] Mackenzie Gerringer, and it’s pretty much from her closet—the corset is hers, the shoes are hers. This is not really something I wear in my day-today life . . . I wish! I play a 40-something-year-old lesbian sex worker, so my costume reflects that character.” —Senior English major Ellie Newell “I’m wearing fake pearls from Goodwill that accentuate the prudish middle-class upbringing of the 50-year old white woman that I am playing.” —Senior gender studies and art history double major Amelia Hasson “My shoes are from Goodwill, yay! I just really like them. I don’t really have a character in this; I’m in a lot of ensemble pieces. So Ellie’s idea for me was, ‘We’re gonna go riot grrrl,’ which is like, my favorite era. So we went with that and that’s where the ripped tights came from. The lipstick is like, the brightest lipstick I could ever imagine, and I love it.” —Senior music major Carissa Wagner

ILLUSTRATION BY ZINSER

“I got my necklace—I took my gap semester in New Zealand, I’m a Jan-

start, and that’s where this necklace is from. I just never really take it off. My dress I got as a Christmas present, because I don’t really own that many dresses and I thought it was pretty. It’s basically the only red, nice thing that I own. I’ve got five [piercings] on the one side and three on the other—I got my first when I was really little, my second one in high school and the other couple I’ve gotten since I’ve been here.” —Junior geology major Avery Potter

Monologues aim to break silence from MONOLOGUES, page 1

“I got this locket at a consignment shop in Pullman, my hometown. I’m in a couple different ensemble pieces and I feel my characters are pretty relatable, at least for me, so I just picked stuff I would wear normally.” —Senior English major Madeline Jacobson

“I’ve had so many people approach me anonymously after the show in the past and tell me, ‘Your monologue inspired me to talk about my sexual assault and I’ve never told anybody before,’ or ‘Your show inspired me to look at my vagina for the first time’. . . The show also features both queer and straight women, and that’s a wonderful dialogue to keep going.” The play is not a fixed performance but grows every year with additional pieces contributed by Ensler to place focus on new, modern issues. This allows for many variations of the play with groups often performing some of the pieces, but not all. This year, along with a new cast, Whitman’s version will feature three previously unperformed monologues. “It’s something that is really uncomfortable, but that’s important and it’s important to sit in that discomfort and learn from it,” said senior politics major and first-time participant Alethea Buchal. “If we can sit in discomfort for a moment, we will be more compelled to do positive social work.”

“My shoes are the only high heels I really own—I’m playing a 40-yearold divorcee who’s pretty angry at her husband, so I just wanted to have a divorcee look, but still look really classy. The high heels are a way to look classy and really feminine, but also show a lot of power and independence.” —Senior environmental sociology major Maggie Allen.

Students interested in attending and supporting V-Day can continue to purchase tickets for $5 in Reid Campus Center during lunch Thursday, Feb. 23 and Friday, Feb. 24, or at the door on performances dates. The showings will be held Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. in Olin 130.

“I am wearing this scarf because my director thought it would look good onstage.” —Senior German studies major Kayla Foster “My shoes, they’re like shiny black Mary Janes. They don’t have heels because my character is like a 75-year-old virgin. These are like my only pair of nice heels here— I don’t really wear high heels, because they make me really tall. This is a cardigan one of my friends gave me because she didn’t fit into it.” —First-year Anuradha Lingappa

SPORTS

Feb

23 2012

PAGE

SWEETS RISE TO ULTIMATE CHALLENGE

Eddie Hill ‘14, Peter Burroughs ‘13 and Peter “Gangles” Osseward ‘12 hone their sprinting skills at a recent practice. The teams will head to Palo Alto for the Stanford Invitational this weekend. Photo by Parrish

by PAMELA LONDON Staff Reporter

imes are changing in collegiate Ultimate Frisbee, and Whitman is soundly on board. Ultimate is one of the few sports in which teams can transcend the divisions set by the NCAA for collegiate athletics and choose where they want to test their skills. Last spring, both Sweets teams gave themselves the ultimate (pun intended) challenge: foregoing expected national championships at the Division III level for the chance to compete against the best of the best at Division I. “Last [spring] season was a breakthrough year for Whitman men’s Ultimate,” said senior captain Ben McGinn. After the Sweets men chose to compete in the DI

postseason tournament, they held their own at regionals and finished 15 of 20 teams at nationals. This year, the ceiling is even higher. “We think that we have a lot of potential this year,” said McGinn. “The way we see it, if we play to our potential, anything is possible this season.” Although McGinn and his team realize that is a big “if,” the team has set itself up for success: The men will be attending the Stanford Invite (Palo Alto, Calif.) and College Centex (Austin, Texas), the two most prestigious tournaments during college Ultimate’s regular season. The women also decided to take on the challenge of DI regionals last spring. Even though the Sweets did not qualify for nationals, they were able to play against big competitive

state schools that increased their exposure to challenging games, according to junior captain Natalie Jamerson. “As we continue to build a strong team, we hope to win our conference again this year,” said Jamerson. For both Sweets teams, winning their respective conference title this year means the chance for another ticket to the DI postseason. And more games against big-time Ultimate programs mean more exposure to the changing culture in college Ultimate across the country. The question often arises: Why is Ultimate so popular at Whitman? “Ultimate is already a sport that naturally appeals to the Whitman community,” said McGinn. “That said, I think our successes have led to a certain understanding and respect for the sport around campus that is

Whitman athletics goes green by SARAH DEBS

ILLUSTRATION BY LOOS-DIALLO

to repair this preventable damage. “We don’t want to keep you off the fields at all,” said Biles, referring to Whitman students. “We just want to redistribute the pressure on the fields and get players out of their normal consolidated playing zones and utilize the whole surface; we believe that we will be able to reduce our inputs.” As the environmental intern, Luiten’s role is to make the athletic teams more sustainable, and to raise awareness about how to be environmentally friendly. This includes being conscious of how they use the fields. “What I want to do is educate the population because people aren’t really aware of the damage they’re doing,” said Luiten. “I just want to change the mindset from one of a passing resident, to ownership, so that the athletes take pride in being at Whitman and taking care of what we have here.” Biles and Luiten together have created a greener approach to make sure the fields stay in good shape.

“The grounds crew will put out flags to kind of show the athletes where is good to play,” said Luiten. “Green flags mean good, red where they should stay off. It’s really simple, and easy to understand, and I want to come up with a list of recommendations and put in the varsity, club and intramural packet so that they know what’s going on.” With this system, Biles and Luiten hope that athletes will be more aware of how they treat the fields, and that playing surfaces will stay in better condition. “My buzzwords are communication, education and cooperation,” said Biles. “That’s what we’re going to need in order to keep our fields in premier condition and decrease our impact on the environment.” Alex Kempler, a first-year intramural soccer player, is supportive of the new system. “I think that if people actually follow the rules, and if it turns out to work then it’s a great idea,” said Kempler. “It makes sense and saves time, energy and the environment.”

Whitman also represents much of what defines the Ultimate culture nation-wide: a group of individuals that are able to come together, create their own niche in their communities and ultimately be successful. “Ultimate stays dynamic and competitive because it is always changing and developing,” said Jamerson. The Sweets will hit the peak of their regular season with high-profile tournaments in March: Both teams will travel to Stanford University for the Stanford Invitational, and the men were selected as one of only 20 teams invited to the College Centex tournament in Texas. For more on the Whitman Sweets, visit www.wix.com/sweetscaptain5/ sweetshome

Preview: Spring team rankings by KYLE HOWE Staff Reporter

Men’s Tennis

Staff Reporter

little rain or frozen ground usually does not stop Whitman athletes from hitting the fields to kick around a soccer ball or toss a Frisbee. However, when athletes run on muddy fields, their concern is usually for the game, and not the turf. If it is too cold outside, the grass they run on is dormant and cannot heal itself. Both landscape supervisor, Bob Biles and senior Environmental Studies-Politics major and environmental intern, Sylvie Luiten are working together to make plans to keep the fields in better condition. As Whitman’s landscape supervisor, Biles is in charge of maintaining the quality of campus landscape and ensuring that the environment is safe and beautiful. With Whitman rated one of the best small liberal arts colleges in the nation, he wants to make sure that all facilities, including the sports field, are in top-notch condition. The challenge is that since there are many field users, including varsity, club and intramural teams, there is tremendous pressure on all of the fields. Biles is especially concerned about the turf during this time of year. “When the ground is frozen and the daylight does not promote healing, the grass simply does not grow. When it gets torn up, well we [the grounds crew] have to fix that, especially for the team sports—if the turf isn’t in good shape, people can fall or trip or sprain an ankle, so it becomes somewhat of a safety concern. So how do we rectify wear and tear that the students create?” said Biles. The grounds crew deals with the mess by using mechanical inputs and water. They also aerate the grass to dry the soil out, and reseed, even though they have recently fertilized. The crew has to use significant amounts of water, fertilizer and seeds

hard to find in places where people are less educated about the sport.” Success has become a definitive trait of the Sweets and that success breeds respect for the Sweets from their fellow Whitties. “Ultimate is a familiar component of Whitman that also serves as an attractive draw for the college,” said Jamerson. “Though the Ultimate culture can sometimes be regarded as laid back, frivolous or hippy-ish, I believe that the Sweets have proven that it is a focused sport that requires acute athleticism and dedication.” Part of the reason Ultimate culture has become popularized at Whitman is its rising success, which the Sweets have recently enjoyed and are poised to continue. That culture has clearly sunk into campus and appears to be set to stay for a long time.

Conference 1-0 Overall 5-3 The men’s tennis team is currently tied for first place with Pacific University in the NWC standings, and, as of Feb. 1, was ranked 29th in the nation for Division III. During a three-day East Coast tour last weekend, the men defeated three nationally-ranked teams: Twenty-third ranked Rhodes College 6-3, Kalamazoo College 5-4, and 22nd ranked University of Mary Washington 6-3. The team has won the NWC title every year since 2008. Last year the men’s team went 12-0 in the NWC. Current senior Conor Holton-Burke won 2011 NWC Player of the Year, and Coach Jeff Northam won 2011 NWC Coach of the Year. Sophomore Andrew La Cava placed sixth nationally in singles last fall at the Small College National Championships in Mobile, Ala. Women’s Tennis

Conference 0-1 Overall 1-2 The women are currently tied with Pacific Lutheran University for eighth place in NWC standings. The team traveled to Linfield on Feb. 18th, where they fell 3-6 in a match against Linfield College. They turned on the heat on the 19th, winning 9-0 against the University of La Verne in Salem, Ore. Last year the Women’s tennis team finished in third place in the NWC, with a record of 9-3 in Conference. This past fall, firstyear Courtney Lawless and jun-

ior Alyssa Roberg teamed up in doubles to place sixth overall in the National Small College Championships in Mobile, Ala. Baseball

Conference 0-0 Overall 0-8 Last season, then men’s baseball team had a record of 4-20 in the NWC and 5-30 overall, placing them in 8th place for the 2011 NWC standings. In addition, last season was the team’s first year under new coach Jared Holowaty. Last year, senior captains Erik Korsmo and Jay Richards, and firstyears Cam Young and Aaron Cohen received All-NWC Baseball Honors. Men’s Golf

Conference 0-0 Overall 0-0 Last fall, the men placed third in the NWC in the Fall Classic behind University of Puget Sound and Linfield, putting up its best team score in over a decade. Last spring the team earned a fifth-place finish at the NWC Championship Tournament. The team graduated top-performer Brian Barton ’11, who earned a spot on the All NWC Golf Team in 2009. Women’s Golf

Conference 0-0 Overall 0-0 The women had a great showing at the 2011 Fall Classic in which they placed second behind George Fox. As of last fall, the women’s team was ranked 12th in the nation among Division III teams, and fourth in the NCAA Division III regional rankings. Sophomore standout Katie Zajicek is ranked 13th nationally, and second in the West region.

Whitman’s basketball team cheers on a court full of first-year teammates at the end of Friday’s 103-71 domination over Willamette University. Photo by McCormick

SCOREBOARD UPCOMING BASKETBALL

Men’s v. Willamette University Feb. 17: W 103-71 Women’s v. Willamette University Feb. 17: W 75-61

TENNIS

Men’s v. Rhodes College Feb. 18: W 6-3 v. Kalamazoo University Feb. 18: W 5-4 v. University of Mary Washington Feb. 19: W 6-3 Women’s v. Linfield College Feb. 18: L 3-6 v. La Verne University Feb. 19: W 9-0 v. Willamette Feb. 20: W 5-4

BASEBALL

v. Concordia Texas University Feb. 16: L 1-4 v. Whittier College Feb. 17: L 5-6 v. Cal Lutheran University Feb. 18: L 6-14 v. Sul Ross State Feb. 19: L 4-5

BASKETBALL

Men’s Playoffs: v. Puget Sound Feb. 23: Away Finals: v. TBA Feb. 25: TBA Women’s Playoffs: v. Lewis & Clark Feb. 23: Away Finals: v. TBA Feb. 25: TBA

TENNIS

Men’s v. Pacific Lutheran University Feb. 24: Home v. University of Puget Sound Feb. 25: Home Women’s v. Pacific Lutheran University Feb. 24: Away v. University of Puget Sound Feb. 25: Away

FEATURE

Feb

23 2012

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GRAPHICS BY BERFIELD

IS THE

TIME FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN SUPPORTS EXPANSION OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, INTERNATIONAL EMPHASIS

Whitman’s 4th global studies symposium illustrates new fundraising campaign goals by SAM ADLER & SUSANNA BOWERS Staff Reporters

ith the variety of internships and community-based courses that Whitman offers on a yearly basis, it is no surprise that both the student body and administration place a high value on education through experience. Courses like Semester in the West, History and Ethnobiology of the Silk Roads, and State of the State for Washington Latinos are celebrated for drawing students outside of the classroom, and, thanks to the recently trumpeted “Now is the Time” campaign, made public in November 2011, these types of programs face a bright future. According to its website, “Now is the Time,” which aims to raise $150 million for the school’s endowment, plans to allot $75 million of these dollars towards enhancing the school’s academic program, a primary focus of which will be increased experiential learning opportunities, as well as an expansion of the Global Studies Initiative. “There are a lot of components to [experiential learning],” said Vice President for Development and College Relations John Bogley. “There’s community-based learning where it might be based in an academic course, and another [component] might be an internship in the summer for a student to go and work in a social services agency, [or] it might be to go and

work on something that might be relevant to his or her career upon graduation . . . Our experiential learning initiative has to do with raising funds to support these community-based experiences.” A similar level of support for these types of programs can be seen in the student body. Senior Erik Lyon, an environmental economics major who went on Semester in the West last year, emphasized the value of experiential learning. “I think experiential learning is hugely important. A lot of times in the classroom we are really theoretical and it really

“It really helps to get on the ground to see what people are actually doing...how they live” Erik Lyon ’12

helps to get on the ground to see what people are actually doing, and how they live their lives . . . you see a level of complexity that you don’t see otherwise,” he said. Lyon, who will be returning to the program next fall as the group’s technical manager, commented on this experience’s effect on his education. “Last semester I took Environmental and Natural Economics, and we do examples where we look at graphs on the whiteboard, and it was really great to have spent a semester actually looking at those examples in real life . . . [and] just being able to

imagine what we [actually mean] when we say ‘cattle devalue the land for recreation’—I know what that means because I’ve walked through cow patties,” he said. Like Lyon, Bogley spoke of the value of these types of experiential programs, but particularly referred to their positive effects outside of the classroom. “One of the reasons I am the way I am is because of what happened positively to me here at Whitman, and so my community engagement is reflective of the kinds of experiences I had here, and what we’re hoping Whitman will do for each of the students who go here,” he said. Bogley also referred to the vitality of the “Now is the Time” campaign as a whole. “Whitman alumni, parents and friends have already given over $101 million to this college in the five of years of this campaign so far. That’s a really good number. And it’s making a difference,” he said. Funds raised from the campaign will also foster expansion of the Global Studies Initative, responding to calls on faculty and alumni for a more internationallyfocused curriculum at the college. “I know that most of you will not specialize in the international arena, but all of you will be informed and affected by it wherever and however you engage,” said alumnus Ryan Crocker ’71 at the 2009 commencement ceremony. “This is ultimately supportive of the mission of a liberal arts [education] . . . and that’s why a lot of donors, a lot of alums,

business people, lawyers, teachers and diplomats understand those connections and that critical awareness that is necessary,” said Associate Professor of Politics and Director of the Global Studies Initiative Bruce Magnusson. He is hopeful that the global studies program will continue to receive donor support because people understand its increasing importance. “What the Global Studies Initiative does, among other things, is it allows students to have, integrated into their classes throughout the four years, professors presenting material that prepare them to understand the issues that come from not just the U.S.-based perspective, but a global perspective,” said Bogley. Through this initiative, a summer program for faculty members has been put in place, guiding them through several texts which they will later reconvene to discuss. “Whether one was in the reading group or participated in the summer seminar, the reality is that all of the faculty involved in each of the last three summers wind up taking ideas from that either year-long reading process or the seminar that they participated in at the end of the year, and think about how that should change how they teach,” said Bogley. This type of integration is a vital component of the initiative, and also helps faculty collaborate with their curricula. The initiative hosts an annual symposium on a specified topic,

which allows students, faculty and the community to critically discuss professional works by global experts. Members of the Whitman community have the chance to

“The idea here is to give students another chance to read leading works by experts in a particular issue...it’s a fantastic academic experience for a student” John Bogley

Vice President for Development and College Relations

experience this annual symposium firsthand on Saturday, Feb. 25. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Places/Peripheries: Intersections of the Global and the Local.” “Four faculty members are involved, three students will be commentating on each of the presentations; it’s great fun and it’s really interesting,” said Magnusson. “The idea here is to give students another chance to read leading works by experts in a particular issue, analyze these experts’ papers, and then present a response to those papers in the Global Studies Symposium,” said Bogley. “It’s a fantastic academic experience for a student to actually take on a global issue.” The Global Studies Symposium will last from 1-4 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

FINANCIAL AID ACCESS

FINANCIAL STRENGTH

ACADEMIC S TR E N G TH

CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING GOALS

$75 million

$25 million

$50 million

OPINION 7 Food justice hinges on systemic reform Feb

PAGE

23 2012

JULIA STONE Sophomore

ast week, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) led the way for a bill prohibiting welfare recipients from using government-issued debit cards to get cash through ATMs at strip clubs, casinos or liquor stores. This is just part of a long history of debate about the “modern welfare state” the United States has supposedly become. One of the most active of these debates is the fundamental Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more widely referred to as food stamps. For millions of Americans who are unemployed, underemployed or facing dire situations, the food stamp programs are vital. Yet, with the rising rates of obesity and hyperawareness about the flaws in our food system, many are criticizing the food stamp program, and calling for more regulation on how, where and on what welfare recipients spend their benefits. That fast food restaurants like Taco Bell and Jack in the Box were added to the list of restaurants food stamp recipients were able to use their ben-

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHNSON

efits at raised a lot of heat last fall. It should come as no surprise that America is in a unique political climate surrounding food. Now more than ever there are calls for reform in the food system, and demand for local and sustainably grown food is strong and growing. There is much debate in America about individuals’ food choices. It is widely accepted that individuals have the power of the pocket—our consumer power can drive real change. In this way, the larger part of the environmentalist movement and now the food movement is convinced that “we can

Political Cartoon by Julie Peterson

do our part” if we make conscious, sustainable choices. Yet, in reality, we are still participating in a system that is inherently unsustainable. The food movement has inherited this consumer-oriented mentality from its sister environmental movement. Media, government agencies and society at large focus on the ethics of the choices of individuals. In this sense, the responsibility of the environment rests on the consumer’s shoulders; if one doesn’t shop for organic produce or go to the local farmers’ market then they are shunned by the “foodie” world. Don’t get me

Biodiversity preservation plan raises social, ethical concerns SAM CHAPMAN First-year

M Web can’t take place of real, sincere interaction by ROLLO Columnist

“A

t Whitman, we need no help finding attractive people. Yet a theme of desperation pervades our culture, and the encounters that take place between us often lack the depth and meaning we seek,” says the new website WhitmanEncounters.com in its abstract. Created, apparently, as a response to the Like A Little phenomenon happening on campus, Whitman Encounters gives users new degrees of freedom. The site allows users to create their own descriptive and quirky “To” and “From” lines (an upgrade from “Brunette Guy” and “Blonde Girl”), as well as provides them with the option of including an anonymous email address with their post. As of now, however, Whitman Encounters does not provide a chat function on its site. Aside from just basic flirting, posts on both sites are used for a variety of purposes, such as giving hints to crushes, setting up blind dates and even conducting short personal surveys (my personal favorite: “. . . do white chicks consider Indians to be attractive in any way???”).

It appears, however, that Whitman Encounters is making an attempt to invite and inspire more insightful interactions between students. This attempt has been relatively successful, and students are using the site as a space to comment extensively on issues such as gender and the dating culture at Whitman. What is important to remember, though, is to take each site for what it is and nothing more than that. They are both fun and entertaining, and maybe even sometimes effective at initiating meaningful conversations. For those reasons alone, both are worthy of being appreciated as tools for students on this campus to use when they’ve got something to say, but don’t know how or where. However, hoping for anything more of them than that is a reflection of hasty judgment and unrealistic expectations, which can create a dependency on these sites that they don’t quite deserve. Regardless of the structure of these sites or the way in which they are used by students, there is no form of electronic communication that can replace real-life interactions. Even the first few spontaneous moments you have with a person can be immensely important in the relationship you later build with ADVERTISEMENT

wrong—I am all for supporting local farmers and businesses and believe in the merits of organic farming. But I believe this insistence on consumer responsibility to make the ethical and healthy alternative choice is problematic because it shifts the focus away from the structural problems that lie at the root of the food system. What needs to change is the industrialized, capitalistic way of producing and distributing food. Such change needs to occur at every level, from monoculture, industrialized production to agribusiness-controlled distribution and a runaway food pro-

cessing industry bent on stuffing empty calories down the throats of every American. When all the pressure is on the individual to make the ethical choice, we forget that some of the structures are so institutionalized and assisted by government that no consumer “vote” will matter. In the case of food stamps, politicians have focused on and passed judgement on the food choices poor people make; in reality, it is the fundamental economic inequalities that have created an environment where lowincome, working class people have neither the time nor the money to make the ethical and healthy choice. There have been great strides in the food stamp program, including some cities allowing recipients to cash in their credit at local farmers’ markets, attempting to increase their accessibility to fresh, healthy food. Still, many criticize poor people for buying unhealthy, cheap junk food with their SNAP benefits. While it is easy to pass the blame off on the individual for not making the healthy or ethical choice, I argue that there needs to be a refocusing of the spotlight on the system that is creating these cheap, unhealthy and unethical choices. When we blame welfare recipients’ food choices on their own irresponsibility, rather than on the system of government subsidies that makes unhealthy corn byproducts ridiculously and artificially cheap, we are left short-sided and blind to the real roots of the problem with our food system.

ore than a decade ago today, as reported in Science Magazine, a conference of scientists with the calculatedly alarming name of “Defying Nature’s End” released a set of suggestions for world governments to follow in order to preserve the Earth’s biodiversity. “Biodiversity,” like “sustainable,” is a word drained of meaning by overuse that nevertheless denotes an important concept under all the fluff: agriculture, the resource economy, and the spiritual and even physical health of the human population all depend on a planet with a wide variety of life. On the surface, the conference’s advice appears far more reasonable than its name; upon closer inspection, however, their thesis ignites an ethical brush fire. The claim is thus: For a one-time payment of $30 billion, we as a species could cordon off 25 hotspots across the globe and preserve 60 percent of the Earth’s biodiversity. The proposed hotspots, located in California, the Ama-

him or her. By having these interactions on the internet, you lose the opportunity to create those genuine, lasting memories, because it’s unlikely that you’re going to remember a confession or pick-up line on Like A Little the same way you remember the time you studied with that cute person in your philosophy class and made bad Kant jokes during a late night in the library. So, while both Like a Little and Whitman Encounters can be endlessly entertaining when you’re trying to procrastinate, the issues trying to be solved on the site, both personal and campus-wide, are greater than the sites themselves. They cannot serve as substitutes for real-life interactions or creating change through action, and they become harmful and misguiding when we start to hope that they can.

zon Rainforest, the islands of Japan, New Zealand and Madagascar, and many other places across the world, would cover as little as 1.4 percent of the earth’s land area. It’s an audacious plan, and it makes a lot of sense. We are in the midst of what will come to be known as the Anthropocene Mass Extinction, the sixth of its kind in geologic history. While the Earth will certainly bounce back long years after we’re gone, it’s in the interest of our self-preservation to at least try and clean up the mess. However, the blueprint comes with a host of problems, the first of which being that these hotspots are not all distant wilderness areas. In places like Japan and New Zealand—developed nations whose hotspots fall in areas unsuitable for long-term habitation—this doesn’t pose so much trouble; in the Amazon, Sahel and the Caribbean, where there is less of a dichotomy between people and the land, it’s more of a concern. This raises the question of exactly what will be done with these hotspots: in order to adequately protect them, must they be cordoned off completely? It’s this question that causes an otherwise ideal scenario to chafe on me. First of all, what if there are native inhabitants in these places (which there are)? Can we justify forcing these people out of their home in order to protect biodiversity, especially if they don’t even have a hand in the crisis? The argument

could be made that some of them— such as those in the Amazon—have been accelerating extinctions, but if somebody is faced with a choice between logging and starving, should an outright ban be enforced before any attempt to modernize local economies beyond subsistence? The suggested method is to grant guaranteed jobs to displaced citizens on the edges of the protected zones; but, leaving aside the fact that no job is guaranteed, this ignores cultural and spiritual considerations. Furthermore, a complete cordon is a flawed approach to biodiversity. The 25 hotspots represent a majority of Earth’s species, but far from all of them—and the implication of the Defying Nature’s End report is that anything outside of the preserves will be left to die. What is the purpose of protecting life if we’re going to keep it in the large-scale equivalent of a glass display case? The expectation of the report is that nobody without critical business in the hotspot would be allowed to enter. This plan, in its current state, will foster the sense of division between mankind and nature that is the reason we’re causing a mass extinction in the first place. What we must do is enact strict protections on the hotspots, but continue to allow people to live and work inside them. Perhaps then, humans across the world will come to understand exactly how interdependent they are upon the biosphere.

Voices from the Community

Which is your go-to campus dining hall? Poll by McCormick BEVERLY LI

DRACO LIU

Sophomore

First-year

“I actually really like Lyman because usually it’s pretty quiet, and I get to serve however much food I want instead of being piled a lot on. And it’s very chill; there’s not as many people, and it’s less stressful than Prentiss and Jewett.”

“I like Prentiss more because I just like the atmosphere, because it feels brighter, and the people are not so crowded because you’re kind of separated into little small tables when you’re sitting there.”

YONAS FIKAK

NINA ESTEP

Senior

“I love Jewett Dining Hall because of their three options that are often—well, at least two of them are—good. And I like their Monday options, usually, more than I do Prentiss or the other dining halls. I guess it comes down to the good options they bring in, instead of all the options that Prentiss has.”

“I’m off-campus now, so I don’t really go to the dining hall. I love Jewett because when I was a freshman, I could just go downstairs and not put shoes on—well, I’d put slippers on—and I liked the food; it was, like, not trying too hard. Prentiss is trying too hard.”

BACKPAGE

Feb

23 2012

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What students are really thinking during class OVERHEARD

AT WHITMAN

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Hello, fellow Whitman students. I just wanted to let you know that sometimes you say some weird things. To demonstrate this, I have written down some conversation snippets, word for word, that I have found worthy of publication. (Of course, to ensure that I don’t have people tracking me down and giving me a playful hit on the head with a sledgehammer, I have replaced all the actual names with those of George Bridges and Barbara Maxwell.) George Bridges – Yeah, we’ll have to characterize it. Barbara Maxwell – I don’t even know what the fuck that means.

Talked once, got my participation points.

I can’t wait for the new season of “Downton Abbey.”

9 a.m.

is too

Barbara Maxwell – It’s been over-generalized as a game where you jump up and down a lot.

early.

George Bridges – I’d be willing to work for money. George Bridges – Hillary Clinton is a boss. Barbara Maxwell – Can you guys be mean to her and make fun of her and kick her? George Bridges – Why? Barbara Maxwell – Because we want her back, obviously. Barbara Maxwell – Oh, I saw my RA in the dining hall; I didn’t say anything, but it was so weird after seeing him naked. George Bridges – That’s really valuable, in the sickest sense of the word. George Bridges – In Mexico there’s a law: If a woman abandons her home, then she loses complete custody of her kids. Barbara Maxwell – Awww snap!

WHITTIE LIFE (SHITTY MEMES EDITION) ILLUSTRATION BY BAILEY

WHAT SOCIETY THINKS I DO

WHAT MY PARENTS THINK I DO

WHAT I WISH I DID

Comic

WHAT I ACTUALLY DO

[students] [staff] Reindeer? Chuck Cleveland clevelan@whitman.edu to me

To All:

We are wondering who left a frozen reindeer carcass in Narnia adjacent to “flerbruksrommet.” According to eye witnesses, it has been there since autumn, and none of the “usual suspects” in reindeer-related science want to have anything to do with it, apparently. Could we ask the owner of the carcass to please contact me before the 15th of March? If the carcass is still unclaimed by that date, we would like to use it for an upcoming polar fox project. Med vennlig hilsen/Best regards,

Chuck Cleveland ********************************************************** Message ID: <0.14562.wctsmm.0.stu14@whitman.edu> **********************************************************

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